Chapter 21: Stranded

After leaving his mech, Silver followed Adam through the underground chambers of the Exo-Planet. The rocky ceilings and walls supported by steel frames and dull white lighting were occasionally shaken by the ongoing battle above.

The cavernous walls trembled by the clashing mechs and explosions, dust and bits of rubble occasionally falling but not enough to be considered hazardous.

As Silver raced down the length pathways of the ant hill chambers, he could spot Adam's figure descending into the darkness.

Darting around the corner, down the narrowing staircases and into an open room illuminated by red hazard lighting and the sounds of buzzing alarms echoing faintly down the dark tunnels before him, Silver had lost sight of Adam. Yet, he felt his eyes staring at him.

"Adam, I know you're here," Silver warned, Asura at his side, ready to strike.

The sound of his shoes echoing in the darkness followed by an ominous slow clap, "Finally, I've got you alone."

"Enough of these games Adam, I don't have time to deal with you." Silver snarled, baring his fangs behind the mask in his Exo-Suit.

"I'll offer you one more time," Adam said, now stepping out of the shadows with his blade drawn, "Join me, and we'll eradicate the oppressors and reclaim our homeland."

Silver grimaced as he drew his katana form, "Slaughtering the innocent is not the way. If they were our people then you wouldn't stand idly by. Your path is a one-way ticket to an all-out war!"

Adam blinked in a flash of red, as the blood-coloured blade clashed with the fiery orange, "But they're not my people, are they?"

Relinquishing the force on the clash, Adam began slamming Silver's sword with a flurry of blows, "They killed our people, they ruined our lives. THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

Silver caught the last blow with his Exo-Suit glowing orange, "Don't you think I know how that feels?!"

Thrashing back, Silver's blade coated in fire as it began colliding with Adam's, the exchange of blows rocking the chamber as blasts of red and orange began to fly across the room, "The humans and their greed took more from me than you could EVER comprehend!"

"THEN WHY DEFEND THEM?!" Adam roared, jumping into the air as his slash came down in a blood-red arc.

Silver sliced horizontally as an inferno erupted from the sword, "I'M NOT DEFENDING ANYONE!"

Adam recoiled as he was flung against the rocky ceiling, his Exo-Suit had suffered severe heat damage and the force of the impact knocked out several circuitry. His HUD began to glitch out as he tried to scan his own vitals only for the system to fry.

"You can't play saviour and villain in this fight. You're a pirate, you hate the UFSH but you don't abide by the same laws as other pirates. You even dared to save one of their top dogs!" Adam struggled to his feet, seething in rage.

Silver calmly sheathed his sword, and flipped the trigger as the weapon transformed into a scythe, "That's personal."

Adam grinned and opened his helmet, spitting blood onto the floor as Silver saw the man behind the white mask. Blue Eyes and red hair, though one of his eyes was branded over by a serial number, seared into his very skin.

"The brand of an SDC slave," Adam said to answer his unspoken question. "After Pandora got ripped apart, I was one of the captives that the UFSH took. Threw me into the Dust mines on Caldera IV, I saw first-hand what a galaxy under their rule looks like."

Silver didn't say anything as Adam stood up, pointing his sword at him.

"People like you and me are all that stands between total galactic imperialism and the free people, so I ask you again, whose side are you on?".

Silver sighed as he opened his helmet, and the masked man stood before Adam, "I'm on the side of freedom." In a blast of fire, the flames scorched the rock as he blitzed towards Adam, the scythe rearing in an arc, "You talk of freedom but you're just like them, an oppressor in a different mask."

Adam tried to block it, but as he raised his sword, the red katana shattered as the scythe cleaved right through it. The scorching blade sank into his shoulder as Adam stared at him wide-eyed.

Silver lowered his mask briefly, looking him in the eye.

"Good job, hero," Adam coughed out blood as he smiled at him, "You'll have to pick a side eventually. Something worse is going to come, someone far worse than me is going to make their move once I'm gone."

Silver narrowed his eyes and cut down even further, "I'm nobody's hero. I'm the fucking villain of this story."

As Silver was about to finish the job, another explosion shook the cavern as the ceiling Silver had cracked earlier began to fall. Reluctantly he let go of the bleeding man and jumped aside as a pile of rocks came crashing down onto Adam.

"Well… that should have killed him," Silver said looking at the pile of rubble. Flicking his blade so the blood came off, he continued dashing into the chamber to find Ruby.

Finally, Silver arrived at the main cavern. It was massive, a gigantic underground facility with dozens of pseudo-Exo-Mechs being created, "What the hell…?!" then his eyes spotted Ruby, tied to a chair in the middle and covered in blood that he hoped to the gods above wasn't hers.

Rushing down the staircase he began to undo her shackles, cutting off the metal one by one until she was freed.

"Ruby… what the fuck did they do to you?!" he looked over her wounds. The bandaged leg, missing arm, the blood soaking her clothes and the chunks of flesh and fingers still lying on the ground like some sort of grotesque mosaic. He could feel his heart-wrenching at the sight of her in this state. Gently holding her right hand as he felt himself on the verge of tears.

"You did come for her," Lyla said with a dull tone as she stepped out of the shadows, her Exo-Suit glimmering in the light.

"Lyla, did you do this?!" He snarled back, baring his fangs and getting ready to strike.

"And what if I did lover boy?"

As the words left her mouth, Silver leapt up, arcing his scythe toward her neck as she just barely dodged in time, "WOAH! You've gotten faster…"

Ruby stirred in her unconscious state causing Silver to shift focus to her momentarily.

Lyla clenched her fists but held back.

"I'll kill you for this," Silver glowered at her.

"You could, but I think you have more pressing matters to deal with," she said putting her hands on her hips.

"What?"

Suddenly, Silver's communicator wrang out, it was Hex, "CAPTAIN! WE GOT INCOMING! SOMETHING MASSIVE IS COMING OUT OF HYPERSPACE AND IT'S NOT A SHIP!"

"What do you mean, not a ship?! What else could be coming out of hyperspace?!" Silver called back.

"I DON'T KNOW IT'S… WAIT A WORMHOLE?! WHAT THE FUCK IS… OH… MY… GOD IS THAT A GRIMM?! IT'S FUCKING MASSIVE!"

"On my way, I got Ruby. Get everyone back to the ship and prep the hyperdrive!" Silver radioed, and as he turned back, Lyla was gone.

Cursing he reached down and picked up Ruby in his arms gently cradling her to his chest as he began making his way out of the building.

Ruby felt like death, as her consciousness returned, the only comfort she felt was the unexpected, yet welcome warmth of something wrapped around her. It felt comforting, and safe, like she was back home again for a brief moment.

Then her memory came rushing back, the torture, the pain, blearily she opened her eyes, feeling all of her adrenaline gone and her fear rising.

Everything disappeared when her vision cleared and her eyes landed on the familiar black mask, and the pair of strong arms holding her tightly.

"Silver…?" Ruby spoke weakly as she woke up.

The pirate captain looked down at her as he was running to the exit, "Ruby? Oh thank the gods you're awake!" he sounded so relieved, why did his concern for her make her chest feel so warm? She knew the answer to her own question.

"You came for me," she said softly, a smile daring to grace her lips.

His expression softened behind his mask, "Of course I did."

Their moment was short, however, as upon exiting the facility they were greeted by a horrific sight.

A massive white wormhole appeared in the space above near the Solar Flare. Black tentacles the size of a skyscraper were the first to come out.

They watched in horror as a creature they'd never seen before climbed out of the wormhole, it was massive, bigger than the Solar Flare by almost half its size. Shaped like some sort of whale, its face a mass of black and red with a maw of jagged white teeth, the tentacles spiked in thorns of bone as they flailed around its body. Several eyes appeared over its skin, massive black eyes that seemed to stare into the universe's soul.

"Is that a fucking Grimm?!" Ruby said in alarm, feeling her adrenaline kick in again as she tried to stand.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she almost collapsed under her own weight, it seemed her blood loss was far greater than her adrenaline and aura could fix right now.

"Shit!" she cursed, stumbling. Silver was quick to grab onto her as she fell, she looked up at him gratefully, "Thanks…"

His eyes were focused on the Grimm above, "Hex what's our status?"

Several cannon barrages fired off at the monster as it bellowed a roar that shook the planet, "RROOOAAARRR"

Tentacles erupted from its body again as their spiky ends opened and barbed points emerged, they could only watch as the tentacles sank into the sides of the ship, locking it in place.

The cannons kept firing, over and over but nothing seemed to scratch the surface of the creature. Finally the railgun powered up and shot a long orange blast that stabbed straight through the forehead of the creature.

But it didn't go down.

It only seemed to make it angrier.

"Captain! We're stuck! Our weapons are ineffective against this thing! We're sitting ducks!" Hex panicked as he could hear her voice shaking. "What about Ruby? How is she?"

Despite the situation, they were still concerned about her safety.

Ruby didn't have time to dwell on that mushy feeling as another roar shook the planet, forcing her to clutch onto Silver again.

"Hex, what about the rest of the crew?" Silver asked, scanning the battlefield. It was a mess, dozens of bodies and broken mechs, but none of them his from what he could tell.

"All accounted for captain, you're the last two, you should- WAH!" she sounded like she was thrown down as the ship rocked from the tentacles invading the hull.

"HEX?!"

"I… I'm okay captain… but we can't escape, not with these tentacles latching onto us. We can fire the railgun in 60 seconds, but… that'd just stun the damn thing. We can try to hyperdrive out but I don't want to drag this thing with us."

Silver bit his lip as he scanned for a solution.

Then Ruby tugged on his arm and pointed to the Exo-Mech.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.

"Looks like our best option." He responded feeling uneasy.

Grabbing her in his arms again, he rushed to his Exo-Mech, climbing the silver, orange and black dragon-style mech and entering the cockpit with Ruby, he grabbed the controls and fired it up.

They took off into space, as Asura's mech form manifested, "Hex! I'll buy you guys some time and see if I can sever these tentacles."

"Captain, they're like titanium!" She called back concerned about his plans.

"Nah, high-frequency blade remember?" he replied and Ruby could see the peak of a grin behind his mask as she sat in his lap.

She didn't realize when but she'd been in his lap with her arms around his neck, a position that felt so natural.

"Right…" Hex confirmed, "But captain, the Hyperdrive is already prepared. If we keep it running any longer it'll fry. Once we fire this railgun, you have about- OOF!" the ship shook again, "About 15 seconds to get to the hanger!"

Silver looked down at Ruby then back at Hex on the HUD, "Yeah, that's more than enough."

"Let's cut down a giant space whale," Ruby said, grinning up at him. She didn't know why, but here, being this close to him, she felt like they could accomplish anything, and, for just these few moments she'd let the walls of her heart down and focus on him and the battle ahead.

The Silver Flame Exo-Mech zipped through space, scythe in hand as he rushed to the nearest tentacle. "I spot six on the radar," Ruby said acting as his co-pilot.

"Understood. Hex," he looked at her through the video display, "Severring tentacle one."

"Railgun firing in 50 seconds," she replied as he could see parts of their control room on fire as one of the tentacles had lodged into the bridge.

Silver raised his scythe and cut straight down, despite the massive size of the tentacle that practically dwarfed the mech, he sliced through it like butter, leaving an orange scorch mark as the black appendage fell limp.

"One down!" he said zipping to the other.

Ruby grappled his controls and yanked hard, veering the mech to the right, "Sorry, didn't have time to warn you about that one," she said as a smaller set of tentacles shot out of the creature's dead appendage toward them.

"Thanks," he said with a genuine smile, "Here, you take the motion controls, I'll handle the weapon."

Her hands reached up to the mech's control panel as his hands relinquished control, shifting to the weapon controls just off to the side. Their arms were in such close proximity, it was like she was nestled in his embrace.

Mentally shaking herself of the distractions she focused on the task at hand, "Let's do this."

"Severing tentacle 2!" Silver called as Ruby pushed forward, "Left side incoming."

Ruby nodded silently as she pulled out of the way of another smaller tentacle, the mech severing the ties of the monster one by one.

Ruby and Silver, working together in one Exo-Mech as if reading each other's mind, they knew exactly how to move to accommodate the other's style. Perhaps it was the years of fighting each other, they knew exactly what the other wanted.

"You make a pretty good co-pilot, Red." Silver smirked as he cut down the fourth tentacle. "Let's not make this a habit though. Mortal enemies and all that," he joked.

She rolled her eyes and blushed, "Whatever, just keep your eyes on the road, evil villain," her words were gentle and laced with an undertone Silver didn't recognize.

Back on the bridge, Hex, Yang and Luna were watching the scene with awe, "Nitro, Weiss, Blake, you guys seeing this?" Hex asked as she forwarded the video feed to them.

"They make a damn good team," Yang whistled as she watched in admiration.

Nitro who was preparing the next shot of the railgun smirked, "That level of skill… shit's a once-in-a-lifetime sight."

"No shit," Weiss marvelled as they all watched one of the most incredible displays of Exo-Mech piloting they'd ever seen.

Tentacles came barraging out of the Grimm in droves, like a bullet swarm.

With Ruby's piloting skills and Nova's eyes and weapon handling they were working better than a well-oiled machine. They made what could only be described as a hellstorm look easy.

"Firing railgun captains! KILL THAT LAST TENTACLE!" Hex yelled.

Ruby didn't miss the 'captains' in her words and grinned, "On it!" they yelled in synchronization as the scythe cleaved the last large tentacle free, the railgun on the Solar Flare shot out, stunning the creature again.

"Phew," Silver sighed in relief, "10 seconds to spare, let's go!"

Ruby spotted the open hangar door and boosted the mech, activating just the right amount of force to propel it forward at high speed toward the open door.

"They're coming in hot! Prep the landing pad!" Hex yelled as Nitro and the others rushed to the hangar door to welcome them.

Nitro was the first to the scene as he stood at the door, making sure the way was clear, "Come on… come on…"

Safety was in sight, "We're gonna make it, gun it Red!" Silver grinned as he wrapped his hands around hers and pushed the mech even further.

She blushed furiously and couldn't meet his gaze as she was focused on the target.

"Five seconds…" Nitro began tapping his foot impatiently.

Four.

Three.

Two.

As they were about to enter, the particles of light formed around the Solar Flare signifying hyperdrive initiation. They would just barely make it.

CRASH

The creature let out a loud roar again as one last tentacle shot out toward them. At their speed, they couldn't deviate from the course in time as the black mass collided with the Exo-Mech.

"FUCK! CAPTAIN!" Nitro yelled out as the Exo-Mech took a heavy blow, shattering its left wing and sending it spiralling out of control, one second before it landed.

Hex and the others on the bridge all gaped, she watched on the video feed, "CAPTAINS…!" but she was cut off.

Ruby and Silver didn't even have time to register what had happened as the Solar Flare shot into hyperspace. Their close proximity to the ship had dragged them into the slipstream.

"Silver?!" Ruby gasped for air as the sheer force of the sudden speed faster than light hit them with the g-force thousands of times worse than when they were rushing at full speed.

Silver held her tightly, his hands grappling the controls with hers as they held on for dear life. Spirals of light and stardust whipped around them as they were flung through hyperspace.

Neither of them could tell what was happening as the mech was thrashed around in the slipstream like paper in the wind until they were flung out of hyperspace.

The sheer force and the lack of engine-stopping mechanisms on a ship ensured that the mech still maintained a significant momentum.

Ruby closed her eyes as she held onto him, the controls had become useless.

The mech spiralled into deep space, carrying the two unfortunate souls with it as it was flung toward the nearest gravitational mass.

They could feel the heat of the metal around them signifying the mech had entered a planet's atmosphere, but neither of them could see anything but spinning stars and the glow of fire as the mech hurtled toward the ground.

"Brace for impact!" Silver yelled as he engaged the emergency harnesses in the mech, an inflatable ball surrounded the two in the chair as the pilot seat ejected just in time.

The two watched as their only means of survival crashed into the black desert sand, their translucent ball bouncing alongside the wreckage safely.

"FUCK!" Ruby yelled, watching the Exo-Mech smash against the ground.

Silver clenched his fists as the bubble deflated, allowing them to look around.

"Where the hell are we?" Ruby asked, scanning with him.

They'd crash-landed on some desert planet, it was desolate aside from a few large rocky outcroppings. The sand was black as midnight and scattered with specks of white like a reflection of space, contoured with light brown lines. The land was mostly flat with no trees or vegetation in sight.

"I… I'm not sure, I think this is one of the unexplored regions of the outer galaxy." Silver guessed based on the landscape he'd never seen.

The sun was a bright yellow, much like Remnant's but the atmosphere was hot. Not unlivable, but still not suited for extended exposure.

"So… we're in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?" Ruby folded her arms, trying to stand.

He shrugged and knelt on the sand, his legs feeling shaky, "Looks like we're on our own…"